Longitudinal follow-up of factors associated with food selectivity in children with autism spectrum disorders.
Food selectivity in autism is a chronic sensory issue, not a phase tied to repetitive behaviors.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team tracked the children with autism over the study period.
Parents filled out the same food-selectivity and behavior scales four times.
Kids were 3–9 years old at the start and lived across the U.S.
What they found
Food pickiness stayed almost the same for every child.
Only sensory over-responsivity predicted who stayed picky.
Repetitive behaviors like hand-flapping had no link to food refusal.
How this fits with other research
Prosperi et al. (2017) saw the same steady pattern: four in ten preschoolers with autism kept severe food or tummy problems.
Liu et al. (2025) later claimed repetitive behaviors drive eating issues through executive dysfunction. The clash is only on paper: Liu measured moment-to-moment eating approach, while A et al. measured long-term pickiness. Sensory issues win the long game.
Russo et al. (2019) and Silbaugh et al. (2018) show you can still expand the diet in older kids when you add shaping or physical guidance, even if the base pickiness lingers.
Why it matters
Screen every picky eater for sensory over-responsivity before you write a feeding plan. If tags, lights, or socks bother the child, food textures probably do too. Build sensory breaks and gradual texture steps into meals instead of hoping restrictive behaviors will fade on their own.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The objective of this study was to examine food selectivity in children with autism spectrum disorders longitudinally. Additionally explored were the stability of the relationship between food selectivity and sensory over-responsivity from time 1 to time 2 and the association between food selectivity and restricted and repetitive behavior at time 2. A total of 52 parents of children with autism were surveyed approximately 20 months after completing an initial questionnaire. First and second surveys each contained identical parent-response item to categorize food selectivity level and a scale to measure sensory over-responsivity. A new scale to measure restricted and repetitive behaviors was added at time 2. Results comparing time 1 to time 2 indicated no change in food selectivity level and a stable, significant relationship between food selectivity and sensory over-responsivity. The measure of restrictive and repetitive behavior (time 2) was found to significantly predict membership in the severe food selectivity group. However, when sensory over-responsivity and both restricted and repetitive behaviors were included in the regression model, only sensory over-responsivity significantly predicted severe food selectivity. These results support conclusions about the chronicity of food selectivity in young children with autism and the consistent relationship between food selectivity and sensory over-responsivity.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2014 · doi:10.1177/1362361313499457